write up

This project now looks 10 times better than it did! I wanted a clean transition for the yellow/orange tone that I used in the graveyard scene (of the tombstones up-close) in the middle, but the red was lacking that effect. I changed the opening scene to a bright greenish yellow so it would roll right into the next graveyard scene. I used various effects, glow, color correction, lightning, and so on.

finished rough cut

I have finished a cut of the video animation and am pleased with the end result. I want to extend the scenes with the souls dancing through the fire and experiment with laying silhouetted characters on top of the video footage.

Video Footage Experiment

This project is a visual metaphor for death, and the possibilities of what lays in store for us on the other side. I decided to film Elmwood cemetery to capture the visual on death. The film starts with a smooth, almost peaceful ride through the graveyard
The transition occurs with bonfire footage from a previous film, to create an overpowering, silhouetted figure to represent a visual of Hell. Within the figure are lost souls dancing amongst the flames. The next transition occurs through multiple layers of cemetery grave footage, lightning and a spinning light reflection taken from a previous film. The ending transitions represent an abundance of deaths and the possibilities of where those people spirits ended up. When the lightning occurs, the motion of the cemetery shot speeds up to represent how fast life can disappear, and then you are left in the ground prepared for either the end, or possibly a new beginning.



Scene 1: Composite of a stone statue and grave-site from Elmwood cemetery

Scene 2: (Silhouette of flames) Stone statue from Elmwood and footage of people dancing around a bonfire from Adam’s Basement

Scene 3: Multiple, variously angled cemetery shots from Elmwood, lightning and spinning light reflection from Terra Firma

Scene 4: Final cemetery shot (Panning into the ground) from Elmwood

Final Animation

I ultimately attempted to make the entire animation run smoother. I used parenting with the goddesses wings and instead of zooming in on her, I panned her from the side. I added a few leaves falling in the background and the final leave falling in the last scene. I also changed the color scheme of the background to red and sized down the pattern. I think the end result is a lot cleaner.

write up

I changed the panning from scene to scene game plan. Once I started to to play around with the scaling, opacity and rotation, I decided to interchange the images within the same scene and fade out opacity for a softer transition. I am still strongly considering leaves falling throughout the scene. It's a rough cut and definitely needs work.

Rough Animation Cut 1

Revised Photoshop

I have recently revised my Photoshop file. I decided to split the bottom scene into 3 layers and the second scene is split into 10. This way I will be able to manipulate more of the characters.

Explanation

I chose to create a high contrast with the materials I used for this project. The silhouetted figures against a bright, textured background helped me to do so. I used a photograph of a Native American tapestry to achieve this background. Through this piece, I hope to communicate the possibilities of a rebirth or afterlife once you die. In the first scene a figure is shown lying dead, while his soul lifts from his body. The soul is then grabbed by the Goddess above and transformed for the afterlife, a tree. The conflict lies in the decision of where the soul shall end up and the resolution is reincarnation in the form of a tree. A dead man, his spirit, a Goddess and a tree make up all of the characters, although I have toyed with the idea of constant leaves falling through each scene until you reach the top and are able to see the last leaves fall off the tree, onto the ground.

Movie Critic

In the Realms of the Unreal

This film contains 2-D illustrations, live footage, narration from different ends, and animation, using After Effects. The illustrations and paintings of Henry seem to come to life, from simple panning all the way to rigorous animation layers. Transitions are smooth and clear throughout the entire documentary. Around 13 minutes into the film there is a shot of girls climbing down a wall, which led to the inspiration of the panning I am choosing to execute in my film.


The Kid Stays in the Picture

This documentary is mostly a subtle attempt of animating still Photos/Images. It does however include live footage as well.
Simple layering of image compositions created a real film effect. There seemed to be a lot of floating text, which for me is a bit distractive. The lighting throughout the film was very intense.


The Civil War and Baseball

Ken Burns films are simple documentary format. Extremely deep, mono-toned narration, along with slow panning of still photography, to create the illusion of depth, space and motion. Although most of the panning was slow, both films seemed to speed up when the topic or subject got more intense. In a weird way, the panning is very intense at times.

Story board : Scene 1 Awakened Spirit

As death comes forward, a spirit will rise. Scene will begin with slow pan from bottom to top, then connect to the second scene.

Scene 2: The Gods

The gods shall extract your soul to the afterlife. The transition from scene one to scene two will be the connection of the Goddesses arm to the top of the soul being lifted from scene one. Still a constant slow pan to the top will remain, until the second scene has connected with the third.

Scene 3 : Spirit Fly High

As the body dies, the spirit is awakened. The transition from scene two to scene three will occur through the Goddesses hair attaching to the spirits legs. The pan upwards will continue to the final scene.

Scene 4 : Reincarnation

As the spirit rises from the ground, rebirth takes its toll. In the final scene the spirit will rise into the soil, symbolizing the creation and rebirth of a new life, the tree.

Photoshop (format for story board)

I have toyed with the idea of constant leaves falling through each scene until you reach the top and the last leaves fall off the tree onto the ground. I can also easily cut out segments of the characters to allow me to manipulate each one differently.

Explanation

Most Native Americans believed that life would continue after death. However, ideas of exactly what the afterlife were like varied greatly from one tribe to another. Through the exploration of this topic, I will create a visual explanation of these beliefs.

Native American culture has always been a big part of my life. I was very close to my Grandmother, who was full-blooded Cherokee, so I have always felt drawn to that side of my heritage. I have dreamed of reincarnation and possible afterlives since I was young, so it has definitely been inspiring for me to further explore and research the topic. I have started gathering textures and other visual imagery to further help the design process.

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